Carl Sagan

Habitar este mundo implica que nos llegue una lluvia constante de estímulos desde todas partes. Para algunas personas, tras ellos se esconden indicios de misterios complicados que debemos desentrañar
como sea. Por desgracia, lo de «como sea» suele ser literal. Y mientras mucha gente trata de usar la lógica en la resolución de los problemas, otra mucha parece que se afana solo en oscurecerlos. Sagán con su equipo de detección de camelos, trató de aportar algo de luz para que la gente no especializada pudiera diferenciar la ciencia de la pseudociencia

This is a paraphrased transcription of the conversation between Lennox and Dawkins that can be seen in YouTube with the title “Richard Dawkins vs John Lennox: Has Science Buried God?” (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVEuQg_Mglw&t=3578s), to which I have added my own commentaries included between brackets):

Resumen
La tesis doctoral de Carl Sagan, astrónomo y divulgador de la ciencia, está constituida por un conjunto de artículos y conferencias sobre diferentes estudios planetarios. Se mencionan los diversos elementos que componen su tesis, y se nombra a los mentores que influyeron en su formación.
Palabras clave: Carl Sagan, tesis doctoral, divulgador de la ciencia.

For many astronomers, the progressive development of life has been seen as a natural occurrence given proper environmental conditions on a planet: even though such beings would not be identical to humans, there would be significant parallels. A striking contrast is seen in writings of nonphysical scientists, who have held more widely differing views. But within this diversity, reasons for differences become more apparent when we see how views about extraterrestrials can be related to the differential emphasis placed on modern evolutionary theory by scientists of various disciplines. One clue to understanding the differences between the biologists, paleontologists, and anthropologists who speculated on extraterrestrials is suggested by noting who wrote on the subject. Given the relatively small number of commentators on the topic, it seems more than coincidental that four of the major contributors to the evolutionary synthesis in the 1930s and 1940s are among them. Upon closer examination it is evident that the exobiological arguments of Theodosius Dobzhansky and George Gaylord Simpson and, less directly, of H. J. Muller and Ernst Mayr are all related to their earlier work in formulating synthetic evolution. By examining the variety of views held by nonphysical scientists, we can see that there were significant disagreements between them about evolution into the 1960s. By the mid-1980s, many believed that “higher” life, particularly intelligent life, probably occurs quite infrequently in the universe; nevertheless, some held out the possibility that convergence of intelligence could occur across worlds. Regardless of the final conclusions these scientists reached about the likely prevalence of extraterrestrial intelligence, the use of evolutionary arguments to support their positions became increasingly common.

On March 31, 1985, Vladimir Alexandrov, the best known climate scientist in the Soviet Union because of his global campaign against nuclear winter with Carl Sagan, vanished while attending a conference in Spain on nuclear-free zones.

He was probably a spy, although for whom - the United States, the Soviet Union, both - remains unclear.

His case remains unsolved, perhaps because it wouldn't be in the interest of either government. Here's what's known of this strange tale, as I reported it back in 1986. There isn't much more to say even now. Send ideas to revkin@nytimes.com

For more on nuclear winter, read my award-winning 1985 Science Digest cover story: http://www.slideshare.net/Revkin/hard-facts-about-nuclear-winter-1985

Carl Sagan argued at a scientific congress in 1969 that the Earth had to take a very special position in the cosmos, with regard to the life on it, in order to arouse the attention of extraterrestrials. The special position of the Earth is the life on it, which is very rare in the cosmos.

But because life in the cosmos is so rare, according to Carl Sagan, there are not enough extraterrestrials in the vicinity of the Earth who could visit us in sufficient numbers, like thousands of U.F.O. sightings would suggest.

On the other hand, if there were actually as many extraterrestrial civilizations as the number of UFO sightings suggests, then life on Earth would not be unusual and our planet would therefore not be worth visiting with a spaceship.

As a result, UFOs controlled by extraterrestrials could not exist.

“Herhangi bir şeyi ağzımıza götürmeden önce rengini ve kokusunu inceleriz. Görüntüsü bozuksa ve kötü kokuyorsa ona dokunmayız. Eğer yiyeceklerimiz göz ve burun testinden başarıyla geçerse, tatma duyumuz devreye girer. Zararlı bir parça bütün bu testleri geçerse, bu defa midemiz imdadımıza yetişir ve isyan ede-rek onları dışarı çıkarır. Vücudumuza aldığımız maddeleri test eden, muayene ve değişimden geçiren birçok başka organımız daha vardır. Son olarak vücudumuzun her an tetikte olan akıllı nano muhafızlarıyla karşılaşırlar: Akyuvarlarla. Elbette alkol ve yağ gibi vücudumuzun tüm sindirim sistemini geçen birçok zararlı ya da belli bir dozdan sonra zararlı olabilecek yiyecek ya da içecekler vardır. Bununla birlikte, düşünme yetimizi fazlaca kullanmamıza gerek kalmadan vücudumuzu zararlı maddelerden koruyan doğuştan gelen bir sisteme sahibiz. O halde bazı bilgi ve savları, özellikle de en tuhaf olanlarını, eleştirel düşünme süzgecinden geçirmeden zihnimize nasıl aldığımız bir gizemdir. Beyinlerimiz asla yanlış fikir-ler, tartışılmaz dogmalar, kutsal virüsler ve hurafeler çöplüğü olmamalıdır. Akıllı olmak zorundayız!” (Edip Yuksel, Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform, Brainbow Press, 2009, p.5)

Batı bilim tarihinde Epicür ile başlayan ateist felsefe, Thomas Paine ile 18. Yüz-yılda ilk kez popülerleşmiş ve son yüzyılda da Isac Asimov ve Carl Sagan ile bili-mi popülerleştiren kitapları ve televizyon programları yoluyla geniş halk kitleleri-ne ulaşabildiler. Kendini Agnostik olarak tanıtan ve çağımız ateistlerince bir pey-gamber gibi sevilen Sagan’ın ölümünden sonra ateistler büyük bir atağa geçtiler. Ateistlerin Dört Atlısı diye tanıtılan Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett ve Christopher Hitchens İslam dâhil tüm dinlere yönelik güçlü eleştiriler yönelt-mektedirler.  Bunlara ek olarak ateist çevrelerde etkinleşen dört isim daha sayabi-liriz: Stephen Hawking, Steven Pinker, Michael Shermer, ve Peter Singer.  Hris-tiyan Evangelistlerin üç Haçlısı diye çağırabileceğimiz Robert Spencer, Ali Sina ve Sam Shamoun da bu saldırıda sadece İslam'a ve “Müslümanlara” odaklanarak, dini taassup ve tarihi kinlerinin şehvetiyle katılmaktadır. David Wood’u da buna ekleseniz onları da dörtlersiniz. Türkiye'den de Turan Dursun, İlhan Arsel, Arif Tekin, Sevan Nişanyan, Celal Şengör gibi yazarlar aynı ateist cihada katılmakla tanınan birkaç isim.

Tarihte ilk kez popüler ilgi bulan bu ateistlere karşı son çağda bazı felsefeciler ve bilim adamları popüler kitaplar yazdılar. Örneğin, Richard Swinburne, Paul Da-vies, Michael Behe, William Dembsky, William Lane Craig ve ömrünün son yıl-larında ateistlikten deistliğe saf değiştiren Anthony Flew... Türkiye’den da ateist-lere karşı Tanrı’nın varlığını savunan bir grup felsefeci ve bilim adamı son yıllar-da popülerleşti. Örneğin, Caner Taslaman, Emre Dorman, Sinan Canan ve Enis Doko.

İkinci bin yılın başından itibaren, 57 devlette nüfusun çoğunluğunu oluşturan yaklaşık 2 milyar insan batı emperyalizminin kanlı ve kansız işgalleri, katliamları ve muhteşem propagandası eşliğinde gerçekleşen büyük bir saldırıya muhataplar. Batının işgal ve katliamları ile Sünni/Şii öğretilerinin veled-i zinaları olan Tali-ban, Boko Haram, IŞİD gibi gerici terör örgütleri ve batı kültürünü evrensel mo-daya dönüştüren sosyal medya da bu taarruza büyük katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Nitekim İslam adını kullanan Sünnilik ve Şiilik dinlerine yönelik bu kampanya sonucunda her gün binlerce Sünni ve Şii mukallit dinlerini terk etmekte, ateist, deist ve az da olsa monoteist olmaktadır. Kısacası, şu anda islam dünyası denilen zulüm ve cehalet dünyası tarihi bir değişimi yaşıyor.

Yıllar önce, Ruhi Bakır adlı birisinin emailiyle davet edildiğim popüler bir ateist formuna uğradığım zaman tartışmalara pek katılmak istemiyordum. Hani bir se-lam verip Şubat ayında katılayım diye düşündüm. Ancak provoke edici ilk yazıyı astıktan sonra gösterilen tepkiler benim zamanlamamı değiştirdi.

“Ateistlere 19 Soru adlı dizinin ilk sorusunun taslağını aşağıya asıyorum. Bu foruma katılan birçok kişi büyük olasılıkla soruyu daha okumadan veya oku-salar bile anlamak için gayret göstermeden bu yazıya karşı dogmatik ve fana-tik bir refleksle tepki göstereceklerdir. Hatta bazıları yazdıklarımı tersinden okuyacak ve aklınca dalga geçmeye çalışacaktır. Dinci veya dinsiz fark etmi-yor. Dogmatikler, yobazlar, düşünce özürlüler ister dindar ister din düşmanı olsun, kafa yapılarıyla ve tavırlarıyla birbirlerine çok benziyorlar.

“Ancak, aşağıdaki ilk soruyu (Evrimde Akıllı Tasarımı Göremiyor musu-nuz?) okuyacak, anlamak için biraz gayret gösterecek ve ona karşı bilgiye ve zekâya dayalı bir tepki gösterecek bir azınlık görüyorum burada. İşte onların tepkilerini, eleştirilerini ve yorumlarını merak ediyorum. (Soruyla alakalı gi-bi görünmeyen bölümleri hem felsefe için bir ısınma sağlaması için hem de diğer sorularla bağlantı kurmak için özellikle koydum.)”

El hombre se ha planteado siempre profundos interrogantes sobre los orígenes de la conciencia, la vida sobre nuestro planeta, los primeros tiempos de la Tierra, el origen del Sol, la posibilidad de vida inteligente en algún otro lugar del cosmos o el destino último del Universo. El cerebro de Broca trata de dar soluciones a estos interrogantes. Su autor tiene la rara habilidad de contagiar su entusiasmo por cuanto se ha descubierto sobre el Universo y por cuanto hemos aprendido sobre nuestro propio entorno. Desde una perspectiva científica, el autor compone este libro alrededor de tres grandes figuras: Paul Broca, el insigne neurólogo francés del siglo XIX; Robert Goddard, padre de la moderna exploración espacial; y Albert Einstein, fundador de la física moderna. A través de sus brillantes páginas, el lector se va adentrando, poco a poco, en la compleja maquinaria del Universo y en el apasionante mundo de la ciencia.

Now available in August 2018, the complete book. Inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, this book presents an entirely new space philosophy for the human species: based in science, aesthetics, ecology, and planetary cooperation.

Blurb inside cover: "Like David Bowie’s Major Tom, 'floating in a most peculiar way', Barry Vacker seems to contemplate Planet Earth through the porthole of a spacecraft. Via critiques of the Apollo program and films like 2001 and Interstellar, Barry offers us a unique opportunity to step back and think of the contradictions of space exploration and our contemporary society. Barry shows we live in a 'post-Apollo' culture torn between a frenetic race towards ever more scientific-technological progress and a just as powerful fall-back into the cultural ideologies of tribal ages of the past. For those who can embrace their non-centrality and possible meaninglessness in a majestic universe, yet yearn for a shared destiny in a sane planetary civilization, Specter of the Monolith is a wonderful and inspiring work." — Carine and Elisabeth Krecke (internationally renowned artists). Available in high-quality paperback in Amazon and Barnes & Noble; available in Kindle and Apple iBook.

Esirgeyen ve Bağışlayan Tanrı'nın adıyla
12/20/1993

Sayın Carl Sagan,

Üç yıl önce, "İlişki" adlı romanınızı okuduğumdan beri, si-zinle "ilişki" kurmayı düşünüyordum. Geçenlerde, dizi halinde yayınlanan yazılarınız beni bu mektubu yazmaya ve İngilizce ilk kitaplarımı size göndermeye zorladı.

Birbirimiz hakkında karşılıklı bilgi edinmemiz için, ken-dimle ilgili başlıca bilgileri özlü cümleler halinde verece-ğim.

Yaşamımın kısa kesitleriyle ilgili, gramer yönünden kısıtlı (İsterseniz "anlatım özürlü") İngilizceyle verdiğim aşağı-daki gelişigüzel bilgiler, dünyaca ünlü bir bilim adamı için birtakım saçma bilgi kırpıntıları olacaktır. Ama, saçmalık-lardan hoşlandığınıza bahse girerim. Bunu yüzünüzdeki muzip gülümsemeden biliyorum.

Yine de,

İngilizce ilk iki kitapçığımı ekte sunuyorum: "Müslüman Din Adamlarına 19 Soru" ve "Hıristiyan Din Adamlarına 19 Soru". Bunları, "Tanrıtanımazlar İçin 19 Soru" ile tamamlamayı tasarlıyorum.

Lütfen, hiç olmazsa son soruyu okuyun (her ikisinde de aşağı yukarı birbirinin benzeridir). Bu soru, Kuran'ın "mucizevi" matematiksel yapısı üzerinedir. Kolayca Hurufilik ile karıştırılmasından dolayı, lütfen bunu incelemeden bir kenara atmayın. Astronominin, Astrolojinin kolu olduğu-nu sanan bir kişiye ne tepki gösterirsiniz?

Edip Yüksel
Arizona Üniversitesi

The divide between science and religion has its roots in the early modern period. In the first part, the popular talk of oracles of reason is traced back to the ancient oracles published in the 15th century, and it is shown how this led to the emergence of a "natural" theology that does without revelation, so that eventually reference to a divine creator seems superfluous. In the second part, using the concept of the cosmos, it is shown that mathematics, especially geometry, has been part of the theological interpretation of Creation since the Middle Ages. From this developed the concept of transcendence as rooted in human thought. Therefore, cosmos, creation, and humanity, which are mutually exclusive, form a unity of complementary elements.

Cos’hanno in comune cristalli, esseri viventi, pianeti e atomi? Due secoli di progressi nelle scienze evolutive ci mostrano un filo rosso che unisce micro e macrocosmo, un nuovo paradigma che sta cambiando il volto dell’intera civiltà umana.

The paper explores the question of utopia in the work of Peter Sloterdijk from a narratological and meta-poetic perspective. The analysis focuses on a relatively new text by the German thinker, published in 2018 as postface to the German edition of Thomas More’s Utopia, translated from the original Latin by Jacques Laager. In the paper I will present the postface contextualizing it in the complexity of Sloterdijk’s work. Furthermore, I will examine some of its thematical and stylistic features which allow to disclose the deep interplay between storytelling, space, and writing in the construction processes of the concepts of subjectivity, otherness, and community in Sloterdijk. Such an interplay becomes in such way a key in order to read the space of writing as a place of meta-reflection through which the author, by rethinking and rewriting the (hi)story of mankind from different conceptual prisms, rethinks and rereads also the peregrination of a new philosophical subject in the landscape of writing.

What is a robust theoretical alternative to nationalism? For many seasoned cosmopolitan thinkers the answer is internationalism, which is generally perceived to be a sound foundation for creating a global polity in the form of a federation of nations. But this assumption is here criticised on the basis that it is founded on an inherent fallacy – internationalism is only a modification of nationalism, where the latter remains the ideological nucleus in conceptual terms. 'Planetarism' is therefore here instead theorised as the paradigmatic alternative to nationalism - an alternative no longer grounded in extant nationalisms.

This is an article published in Globalizations: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14747731.2020.1741901

The article examines the use of animation and morphing technique in the acclaimed 1980 documentary series "Cosmos", hosted by Carl Sagan. The article argues that the the show's animated segment which visualizes that evolutionary process used the existing morphing technique and "ani-morphing" elements, as described by Norman Klein in a unique way, not only to educate the audience about the details of the process but also to deliver its grand meanings.

Science and religion represent two great systems of human thought. For the majority of people on our planet, religion is the predominant influence over their affairs. When science impinges on their lives, it does so, in general, through technology. The core of religion is the religious experience. True religion does not thrive on belief, it requires us to become; it is not a set of propositions to be accepted, it is a state to be experienced. The so-called religious experience is the progeny of a free mind, a mind that does not conform unthinkingly, but questions everything and finds the truth itself. Some of the greatest scientists have succeeded in synthesizing science and religion inwardly, on a personal level. Religious experience is then seen as an extension of scientific activity.

We present an empirical study of the long-term evolution of several social indicators (e.g. human population growth, statistics of deadly quarrels, diffusion of democratic systems, etc.). We assume that the human species emerge, develop and become extinct with similar evolutionary patterns that other terrestrial species. We propose that the long-term indicators are showing some sort of macro-transition in their long-term behavior that we defined as "Technological Adolescent Age." We present an estimation of this period. Assuming the "Principle of Mediocrity" and using the Drake Equation we calculate a lower threshold for the number of technological civilizations in the galaxy.

Today, the Churches of Christ still bear the marks of a ‘Scottish Common Sense’ heritage. True to their Reformed theology roots, they are largely suspicious of the God of mystery. This is no less evident in their emphasis on missionary work and related suspicions of the ‘postmodern agenda’ (the deconstructionist’s work as they have [ungenerously] conceived it). Denominations similarly warning against Derrida’s understanding of truth would benefit from closer readings of continental philosophy and postmodern theology, how they: revive faith as desire, cultivate dis-closed meanings, and witness to wounding ‘traces’ that allure us to the Other (instead of simply violate otherness).

It would seem that this particular denomination--and others jarred by the disconnect of meaning and form--is strangely caught somewhere between the certainty of God’s comprehensibility and a rejection of God’s “real presence.” For the purposes of evangelism, missionaries count the incarnation as God’s intelligibility. And yet, as if chastened by the shortcomings of their own somewhat colonizing presence, they explain away less intelligible meanings (suffering or, perhaps not unrelated postmodernist pleas) with deficient sacramentality. It is a precarious position to occupy: simultaneously holding truth as an accessible object (commodified for the purposes of evangelism) and suspicions of God’s presence in materiality.
This paper will thus reformulate, constructively, the suspicions of sacramentality into a space for mystery—a presence marked by absence, a definitive meaning deferred. I will begin by examining Tertullian’s renaming of mysterion as sacramentum, and the implications of this move from God’s self-revelation as ‘secrets given’ to ‘vowed deposit carried into battle.’ Exposing this shift for missionary interests will (ideally) lead to a supple grip on truth, rendering faith as compelling, not compulsory.
I must locate myself, of course, as among the ‘they’ to whom I gesture. The Churches of Christ gifted me with this understanding: God is the source of a truth that precedes (grounds) and exceeds materiality, but is not present in creation. It is the religion qua double bind of Derrida: the claim that holiness is set apart (unscathed by human hands, thoughts), but that we must communicate and touch this holiness with our unholy means (material conveyances and immaterial concepts). On both accounts of how my denomination approaches ‘faith’ and ‘knowledge,’ Derrida’s critique provides a curious insight.  If holiness as unknowable content cannot be touched (must be set apart), then our forms will be doomed to simulacra (copies without origin). But if our communications about the holy are to be more than simulacra, we must permit a God that can handle our hands. It would seem that to save the name, to let the holy, is to let the name take form and save us. For only the name, if holy and set apart, can initiate entry (revelation) and elusion (mystery).
Mystery as displaced by revealed truth, is perhaps isometric to my tradition’s disregard for God's real presence. “Leave us our simulacra!” seems not only the unspoken rule of revealed meaning as determinate, graspable, but also the rule that renders evangelized others as potential selves. I want to respect what conceptual footholds function for people. However, appeals to ‘Common Sense Philosophy’ have not held up to Campbell’s original intentions of ‘unity.’
Perhaps because unity cannot exist as a whole if it eradicates holes for the ‘other’ voices. A life of faith, without mystery, moves love to symmetry (economics of desert, obligation). At most, this symmetry exists as an exchange between competing truths (in danger of reducing both to sameness), or a war between competing truths (in danger of obliterating the other altogether).
At stake, then, in the deconstructive move: beauty reinstated as asymmetry, structural integrity via porousness. These notions guide several postmodern thinkers—those who puncture structures, cracking open meaning so that the other (Holy or human) can come. Sacramentality (in philosophy: the infinite that breaks open the totality, in theology: the Divine Absolute who inhabits human experience) serves as a shorthand term for this whole whose holes are apparent. Sacrament, like mystery, exemplifies the beauty of this porousness that accommodates asymmetry, infinite allusion, like an ellipsis of longing, or a wound yet unsealed by resurrection.
Deconstruction is not the enemy, and neither is theological construction. Nihilism is as hideous as over-speculation--nothing converges with everything at the extremities. Therefore, I return to the site of Plato’s Symposium as it relates Diotima's tale of Penia (lack) and Poros (fullness) copulating on Aphrodite's (beauty's) birthday, giving birth to Eros (desire). It will be a return to the beautiful as the event of gratuitousness: an occasion for Penia (deconstruction's negations) and Poros (construction's assertions) to come together—this time without drunken seduction—to produce an ongoing re-birth, the becoming of desire which is the life of faith.
I will then transition with Anne Carson’s reading of eros in Platonic analogies. In order to flesh out her rhetoric of paradoxical meanings made form, I will incorporate Sagan’s analogy of two-dimensional forms engaging three-dimensional forms. Alongside Lyotard’s somewhat mystical exploration of inter-dimensional relations, I will re-read the mystery of our “made in God’s shadow” (Genesis 1:27, tselem) within the "overshadow" of Christ's birth (Luke 1:35). This will open a conversation for those who require Biblical sites of asymmetrical appeal.
The first implication of asymmetrical appeal is a regard for what is "other"—even as it bears some symmetry to the self (since to discern the symmetrical, one has to see the overlaps in order to perceive the extensions; differance requires relation). The second implication of asymmetry is that it underwrites the holy virtues of faith, hope, and love.

Folien zu Menschentypen und Wilson´s Schaltkreisen

Schaltkreise I + II     2
Matrisch – Patrische Ausprägung          3
Die 4 Temperamente des Hippokrates I             4
Die 4 Temperamente des Hippokrates II               6
Das reptilische und amphibische Gehirn       7
Schirm´sches Struktogramm + Schaltkreise I + II                       9
Schaltkreis III   10
Schaltkreise III bis VIII   11

For performance recording with score-video see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiQSqwP5R-A

Jordan Alexander Key (b. 1990): "Meditation after the Death of Stephen Hawking," trio for soprano, flute, double bass, and fixed media on digital excerpts from Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Malala Yousafzai, Jane Goodall, and Wangari Maathai.

Thank you, Stephen Hawking, for being an inspiration throughout my life, showing me the value of lifelong learning, impassioned teaching, unabashed imagination, and perseverance in the face of adversity.

Written for the Fonema Consort

Premier: March 29, 2019, The University of Florida, Friends of Music Room
Performance: The Fonema Consort

Also available on SoundCloud at: https://soundcloud.com/jordanalexanderkey

Insignificance and cosmic solitude are found with great frequency in science fiction, philosophy, art, scientific
dissemination and in the collective imagination. The origin of cosmic insignificance dates back to the dawn
of modernity, with the emergence of scientific rationality and heliocentrism. Cosmic solitude is typical of the 20th
century and it emerges in the context of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and the terrible possibility that
humanity is on the brink of self-destruction. This article will analyze the origin, development and some variations
of these two important ideas.

This article was written for the Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) in response to PSA's Outreach and Engagement initiative. My own discussions and feedback at academia.edu and researchgate.net on issues of science and philosophy have revealed that many academics encourage simple and down-toearth explanations, free of the obscure and complex jargon often found in scholarly papers. The need for better elucidation is more important now than ever before, as modern science and philosophy are becoming increasingly complex and consequently less accessible to wider audiences.

SETI operates under a two pronged hypothesis. The first assumption, known as the principle of mediocrity, is that the development of life is an unexceptional consequence of physical processes taking place in appropriate environments—in this case, on Earth-like planets. Because our galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars and the universe has billions of galaxies, many habitable Earthlike planets should exist, and life should be common. The second assumption is that on some planets that shelter living creatures, at least one species will develop intelligence and a technological culture. They will have an interest in communicating with other sentient beings elsewhere in the cosmos and will beam signals into space with that goal. Assuming that these cultures would use electromagnetic signals to communicate and that their signals would have an artificial signature we could recognize, it should be possible to establish contact and exchange information.Making first contact is equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack 35 times the size of Earth. Actively sending announcements to introduce ourselves
may be the best way.